James Piper, Author

Friday, November 11, 2011 ... you would think, assume, I had did these things ... I I’ve done a few things most people never get a chance to do. Lived in Africa for one. Have written a few novels and screenplays. Wrote some songs you wouldn’t want me to perform. But for the most part, my life isn’t terribly distinguished. Life like most people except there’s a few things I’ve never experienced. Never been married. Close? Not really. I’ve never even been on a date or had a date on Valentines Day. I think most people, where the day is recognized, have done that. I often wonder what it would be like. Never had a birthday party with cake and friends. I remember the odd the birthday card from this aunt or that uncle. It doesn’t help when your birthday is the same day as a holiday. I don’t know who my father is. That one-half of my genes, my DNA that is me. Don’t know and probably never will. I think most people know who there father is even if the relationship isn’t what ...

Sunday, November 06, 2011 ... trying to make sense of the amazon bestsellers and pricing for e-books ... I Each hour Amazon updates its bestsellers lists. I have taken a daily snapshot of the top 20 bestsellers in the e-book fiction list for the past week and analyzed the results. Click here for the current listing. What can be learnt from these data? 1. 4 out of 5 of the titles are from traditional or brand-named authors. The trend continues. Further, comments I wrote last week about the list apply this week. 2. The prices for books by traditional authors is substantially higher than those of indie authors. See chart below for comparisons. 3. A core group of titles appear on the list each day. Certain titles shoot up into the list for a day or two then fall back down. More below. 4. While pre-release titles appear on the list, the sales for these titles do substantially better after the release date. (e.g., Zero Day by Baldacci). It appears that some people w...